like to cut me a very large check, I would cash it." Yolen stopped reading Harry Potter after the third book, and has expressed dislike for the writing style of Harry Potter, calling it "fantasy fast food". The Secret of Platform 13 Eva Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13 (first published in 1994) features a gateway to a magical world located in King's Cross station in London. The protagonist belongs to the magical world but is raised in the normal world by a rich family who neglect him and treat him as a servant, while their fat and unpleasant biological son is pampered and spoiled. Amanda Craig is a journalist who has written about the similarities: "Ibbotson would seem to have at least as good a case for claiming plagiarism as the American author currently suing J. K. Rowling [i.e. Nancy Stouffer], but unlike her, Ibbotson says she would 'like to shake her by the hand. I think we all borrow from each other as writers.'" Doris Crockford and the Flying Scotsman In the first book, Harry meets a witch named Doris Crockford, who shares a name with real-life author of a book about the famous train The Flying Scotsman, published in 1937. In Crockford's book, the train departs from Platform 10, King's Cross Station, and goes on a magical adventure. It is believed that J. K. Rowling was inspired by Doris Crockford in using a character of the same name. See also Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series References Bibliography Pat Pincent, "The Education of a Wizard: Harry Potter and His Predecessors" in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives in a Literary Phenomenon. Edited with an Introduction by Lana A. Whited. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002. Amanda Craig, "Harry Potter and the art of lifting ideas", The Sunday Times, 17 July 2005. Heath Paul, Helmer says he invented Harry Potter", The Hollywood News, 14 April 2008. Influences Harry Potter